Customer Reviews

Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inquisition, and the Defeat of the Moors

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The narrative is structured to culminate in three pivotal events which occupied Spain in 1492: the recapture of Spanish territories held by Moors for about 700 years, the expulsion of Jews who refused to convert, and the launching of Columbus' expeditions and subsequent discovery of America. In the process, we witness the creation of the first formidable modern state. Much is devoted to the Inquisition's role in constructing a coherent polity. We get snapshots of Vatican politics, orgiastic cardinals, fiery Dominicans, Spanish sucessional disputes, poisonings, European slave trade, Portuguese adventures, and fifteenth century "scientific" thinking. Mr. Reston has put together a very amusing read and one is not shortchanged if the general topic is of interest and this is all one expects.

Indeed, Mr. Reston aims to write "popular" history, that is, plot, drama and color, emotion, sustained momentum, some intellectual stimulation but not much analysis or interpretation. More often than not he succeeds. But for me, genre success proved to be the book's shortcoming. I wanted more analysis, more probing, more competing interpretations of what now seem to us truly strange events. His point of view is of our day: post-Enlightenment, post-Einstein, post-Holocaust, post-Stalinist, post-Vietnam, post- all horrible events of the twentieth (and twenty-first?) century. To what extent is it proper to apply such prism to events which occurred over five centuries ago, to characters who lived in a world devoid of all knowledge and experience we subsequently acquired? Mr. Reston is not bashful about doing just that, passionately so at times. Perhaps such scruples are not applicable to a book aiming primarily to entertain. He certainly is not bashful in showing his outrage. One never loses awareness that the author has a point of view. What do we learn from it? We are left to draw our own conclusions, arguably with a stacked deck.

On a more sober level, the topic is so ambitious, the history so complex, that the broadbrush treatment accorded here almost reduces everyone and everything to outline or caricature. To be fair, one cannot fault Mr. Reston for not writing the book that one thinks ought to be written. A good by-product is to make us realize how welcomed a more thorough treatment of the period would be. Certainly the Inquisition aspects have been well treated by Henry Kerman and Benzion Netanyahu. But we need more recent treatments in English which discuss Moorish Spain, Christian Spain as welcoming haven for Jews after their expulsion from England and France (and the irony of their subsequent expulsion from Spain itself some centuries later), the fragmentation of the Iberian peninsula and the reunification of Spain under Isabella and Ferdinand, the consolidation and centralization of power in the modern State for which Spain provided the model to be followed by the rest of Europe, Columbus, his voyages, and the rise of European hegemony. There seems to be a "black hole" in available histories from the Visigoths to the Hapbsburgs (excepting Kerman and Netanyahu).

Mr. Reston writes lucidly and well. The book could use genealogical tables, more maps, and more careful editing (some pronouns are hard to trace; the same character is "explained" more than once in the text within relative proximity and without additional information given). None of this is more than a momentary annoyance but should have been corrected.

You will enjoy the book taking it for what it is. If you are intellectually curious, you will probably be pleased but not satisfied. Be aware that it is not the last word on the subject, an opinion with which Mr. Reston would probably agree.

Notwithstanding prior reviewers' judgments, Reston's history is a travesty. Dogs of War purports to describe the "apocalyptic" consequences of the destruction of the Moorish Kingdom of Granada, the expulsion of practicing Jews from Spain and the discovery of the Americas. Reston attempts to describe the origins and nature of the Inquisition, but in fact does little to clearly or accurately portray its scope and nature. It reads more like a history for middle-schoolers than for grown-ups. Its one merit was that his simplistic and unqualified arguments drove me to find additional sources to check his facts and claims. The contrast between the Dogs of God and Henry Kamen's The Spanish Inquisition (1999) could not be starker: Kamen's book is history, Reston's is little more than a well-written polemic. Reston's own admission that "This is not history in the traditional sense..." is perhaps one of the few assertions in the book that can be taken at face value.

One of the most amazing omissions in Reston's book is any effort to actually quantify the numbers of individuals who were victims of the Inquisition. Clearly, a single victim to such an unjust and horrifying tribunal is one too many, but in writing a history it makes sense to introduce some level of proportionality. Reston seems anxious to equate the Inquisition with the Holocaust. Certainly both are examples of rampant and primeval racism, but the equivalency diminishes the singularity of the most horrific crime in human history.

Reston uses no footnotes!! There is no way one can check his sources or his interpretation of those sources. There is little evidence that he seriously examined original sources. I am no expert in this period, but one example may serve to illustrate the weaknesses of Reston's book. His bibliography includes an earlier edition of Kamen's book (1965). Either he read Kamen's book and chose to ignore the arguments therein or he simply didn't bother to read the book. The treatment of the same events is so different that I fear the latter must be the case - since a "knowing" distortion is by far the greater failure. Both Reston (pages 74-75) and Kamen (pages 46-47) relate the same story about one Diego de Susan, an immensely rich Converso (a Christian with Jewish heritage), and his efforts in 1480/1 to form a resistance to the Inquisition that came to his home town of Seville in 1480. Betrayed, apparently by his daughter, Diego de Susan was caught and executed by the Inquisition. Both writers relate essentially the same story, though Kamen provides specific references for his account. Kamen, however, after relating the story notes: "The whole story about the plot and betrayal was in reality a myth: Susan had died before 1479, the plot is undocumented, and there was no daughter Susanna." Reston treats the story as a fact, an indisputable example of the power and force of the Inquisition. (Note: In fairness to Reston, it is possible that the earlier edition did not include the above conclusion. However, it is hard to imagine why one would not reference the latest edition of a book by a professional historian. Moreover, Kamen cites supporting sources that also appear in Reston's bibliography.) Thousands died directly at the hands of the inquisition, tens of thousands sufferend the horrors of having to leave their homes and suffer the grim fate that awaited many travellers in the 15th Century and refugees throughout the ages, a hundred thousand gave up their heritage (Kamen's estimates). This is a tragedy that is worth telling and re-telling, lest we allow it to happen again. Unfortunately Reston's approach does not do it justice.

Why write a book that is so incomplete and so flawed? Perhaps the answer lies in Mr. Reston's politics. His Prologue suggests that America was in some sense borne out of the crimes and excesses of the Spanish Inquisition and the triumph of Christianity over Islam in the re-conquest of Granada. And, moreover, that we, as Americans, should be more mindful of these origins and more understanding of the continued hostility of Muslims to their treatment by the Spanish in 1492! Unfortunately, Mr. Reston's bad history simplistically and inappropriately legitimizes today's terrorism in Madrid's Railway Station.

By all means read the book, but have some real histories on hand to provide the facts and perspective.

This book is nicely written - compelling enough to keep one turning the pages. If one reads it as a work of historical fiction, the this book is quite enjoyable.

I'm no historian (that's why I purchased the book, after all), but I immediately sensed the author's factual transgressions and wayward perspectives. One need not be an historian, however, to note the one-sidedness here. I couldn't think of a concise way to sum up these shortcomings; and then I read the previous reviews: Journalist.

So what we have here is not a thoroughly researched, thought out, analytical account of an historical event. Then again, should one expect such writing from a journalist? William Shirer (Rise & Fall of the 3rd Reich)set the bar pretty high. He did have an advantage - having lived through the historical event in his book. So, I'm willing to cut Reston some slack. But without setting the bar as high as Shirer, Reston still falls far short of my humble standard for history books.

Would recommend the book. But don't go around quoting it among history scholars - unless, that is, you want to be confused by the facts.

This book is not meant to be a super scholarly treatment of the period and events in questions. Instead, the book is meant to be an invitation to the characters, history and events that make up a pivotal period in western history. Reston succeeds in wonderfully telling a story of the pivotal events that were taking place in late 15th century Spain, including: the final defeat of the Moors, Ferdinand and Isabella's expulsion of the Jews, the discovery of the New World, the horrors of the inquisition and the overall consolidation of Spanish power into one united nation. As Reston argues, the ramifications of these events are still reverberating through the ages.

The maps are pretty decent, but not all places named are displayed on them. There are no footnotes (maybe 1 or 2) as this book is not meant to be another production of esoteric historians who examine fact after fact. Overall, this is a great book and a fantastic introduction to the period for those in need of such an introduction.

Reston documents a critical period of history, when great socio-political and religious changes converge, the Moors finally defeated by the Christians and the gestation of the long deadly years of the Inquisition, birthed in Spain with the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, Christopher Columbus's mission to the New World charged with the conflict of ownership of the lands he discovers. Although Columbus is but a footnote to the immense cataclysmic events of the fifteenth century, his endeavor is significant, if only because the voyage represents the future expansion of the west, medieval Europe torn by centuries of war for the domination of one religion over another, as an extensive body of Arabic science and literature is claimed by the scions of the Catholic Church.

The gradual defeat of the Moors is of huge significance in 1492, a pivotal year in American, Spanish, Jewish and Arab history, as well as World and Church history. Here is the confluence of a five hundred-year push to conquer the infidels, the demise of eight hundred-years of Islamic Spain, the establishment of the modern Spanish state, the Spanish Inquisition that terrorizes Jews and unbelievers, the discovery of the New World and the division of that world between Spain and Portugal. The expulsion of Spanish Jews and the election of a corrupt Borgia pope augers profound change in religious expression, the arts and the development of a culture that is the forerunner of the modern nation-state.

Focusing on this great cultural apocalypse, Reston links the significant players and events that shape the world of the fifteenth century, a legacy that reverberates today, as we grapple in real time with the age-old issues of religious doctrine and political ambition. Peopled with the faces from the history books, the ruling monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, Christopher Columbus, Tomas de Torquemada, the Great Inquisitor, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI), and the fanatic Savonarola, medieval Europe heaves a sigh and gives birth to immense upheaval, Ferdinand and Isabella's Dogs of God (the Dominicans) rooting out the Moors, the Jews and other unsavory (un-Christian) citizens. In a stunning display of power and religious intolerance, the Spanish Inquisition is as heinous in that century as Hitler's purge of European Jews in more recent times.

The appointment of Tomas Torquemada as the Inquisitor of Aragon and Valencia is significant, followed months later by a consolidation of his power as Inquisitor-General, adding Castile and Aragon to his sphere of influence. "Every holocaust needs a cold-hearted organization man"; Torquemada fulfills his destiny, organizing charts, clerical appointments and regional commissions, standardizing the process for all his tribunals. The auto-da-fe becomes a horrifying symbol of the power of the Inquisition, hinting at the extent of the Church's reach. Although there are a few pockets of active resistance, for the most part the terror of the Dogs of God spreads across the land. Much of Ferdinand and Isabella's success is enabled by "the illegally elected, degenerate pope, Alexander VI". The Borgia pope holds the power of the kingdom in his hands, deciding the future of the Americas and the western hemisphere. At first concerned only with consolidating his family's wealth, after much prompting, Alexander issues a papal bull granting Spain sovereignty over the west and the fruits of the New World adventure. It is the fanatical Dominican friar, Giolamo Savaronola who finally brings the Borgia pope to his knees.

Excellent black and white illustrations from various world libraries reflect images of history's unfolding drama, the portraits, landscapes and documents; most potent are the examples (pictorial and text) of the Inquisitors' methods of torture and the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. As power and politics converge, a New World emerges, old one caught in the jaws of history. This is a fascinating book given today's climate of politics and religion at odds. Thoroughly documented, with maps, index and bibliography, Reston brings the fifteenth century to life, driven by some of the most powerful voices to affect the direction of western civilization. Luan Gaines/ 2005.

I picked up this book to learn more about the Inquisition because lately the concept of religious persecution in Europe has been on my mind. The book had a broader scope which was partially satisfying.

The author's apparent thesis is to show the inter-play between the simultaneous events of the
Inquisition, the defeat of the Moors and the voyage of Columbus. I believe the author succeed in showing the relation between the Inquisition and the war. But not the interplay with Columbus's voyage.

While the Inquisition had a life of its own fueled by the radical piety of Isabella it was also used to fund the war through confiscation of property from wealthy Jewish converts to Christianity followed closely by confiscations from all Jews. The author made this point nicely.

However, the relationship of Columbus's voyage to either the war or the inquisition was not as clear. Yes, the voyage was also supported by the religious zeal of Isabella and the voyage was postponed until the war was over but no other significant interplay between the events was explored.

The format is a light narrative style built around the lives of the principal players. I generally enjoy this format but with three simultaneous plots and so many players I found it a bit hard to get into the flow of the characters and the book until the final third.

I did not learn as much about the actual Inquisition as I had hoped. But understanding how Ferdinand used the Inquisition and religious persecution of Jews to balance his war budget was invaluable.

For this alone I would recommend the book.

We've all heard of Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition, and of course Ferdinand and Isabella and Christopher Columbus, but how much do we know about them? Before reading this book, I have to admit my knowledge was pretty cursory. Thanks to Dogs of God, the story of the late 15th century in Spain has been fleshed out, and it's not a pretty picture. Ferdinand and Isabella, those two forward looking monarchs we all learned about in 3rd grade, turn out to be a pair little deserving of any admiration: a militaristic holy warrior and enthusiastic prosecutor of the Inquisition on the one hand, and a would-be Virgin Mary avatar and pious hypocrite on the other. The story ends after Columbus's first spectacular voyage, but we are told of his future as a slaver, and of his disastrous failings as an expedition leader, and his eventual humiliation.

The bulk of the book though centers not on Columbus but on the holy wars against the Moors, who had been in Spain for a millenium, and against the Jews who had been there even longer. The crusader campaigns against the Moors are followed to the end with the "glorious" victory of Catholic Spain which was at the same time pursuing a murderous war against Jews and Judaism. Many are roasted to death in autos da fe, often choosing to be mercifully strangled to death before being devoured by the flames. The Inquisition was a witchhunt, the kind of which we have come to know so well in American history: the Salem witchcraft hysteria and McCarthyite persecution of Communists. Confess, and abase yourself before the powers that be, and name others, or be tortured and/or destroyed. The murderous church agents pursued their object with unmitigated cruelty. Particularly charming was their concoction of the accusation that Jews murdered Christian children for ritual purposes, thereby inflaming the peasantry to murderous hatred.

Reston though knows that an engaging story needs to contain figures we can identify with and there's the rub, because the people presented as our primary protagonists are Ferdinand and Isabella. Reston asks us both to open our eyes to their perfidy, and to identify with them as protagonists. This conflict lends the book an underlying sense of disequilibrium.

Dogs of War is strictly a popularization. Lacking footnotes or any other kind of documentation, we are asked to take on faith that Reston has created conversations, moods, situations and characters accurately. We have no reason to believe his recreations are inaccurate, but lacking any documentation at all, anyone who is unsatisfied with having to rely on someone else's perspicacity, imagination and good judgment is left, well, unsatisfied.

All this being said, the book is still very much worth reading. It's engaging, interesting and revelatory of an important slice of European history. Plus, it has two quite good maps which are so often lacking in books of this type.

OK, the historians out there are complaining about the lack of footnotes. The 99% of the other people who read this lively, informative, and entertaining book won't miss the footnotes. The author weaves the three stories of Columbus, the Spanish Inquisition, and expulsion of the Moors in a compelling way.

1492 was not just a crucial year in American history; it was cataclysmic for the world. Forces came together in Spain that year which still resound today. Last year's Madrid train bombers referred to the ignominious defeat of the Moors in 1492 as partial justification for their terrorism. It was the year the Spanish Inquisition's reign of terror resulted in the expulsion of all Jews from Spain. And, of course, it was the year Christopher Columbus finally got his three ships and set off for fabled riches.

"Indeed," says Reston in his prologue, "it is difficult to imagine another single year in the past millennium when so many significant strands of history came together and so changed the world in one swoop." Reston, the author of 12 books, including novels and histories ("Warriors of God," "The Last Apocalypse") explores those "converging strands" in his latest.

Titled after the popular name of the Dominican order which was established to combat heresy and run the Inquisition, the "Dogs of God" is a popular history, not a scholarly examination and so Reston gives us personalities and ironies to anchor our interest. There's the glorious Arabic culture, for one, tolerant of Jews and Christians as citizens, if not equals. From the Arabs come advances in mathematics and art; an impetus for the Spanish Renaissance.

Then there's the fanatical Spanish Church, convinced of its righteousness and terrifyingly intolerant of dissent. It's typified by the infamous Grand Inquisitor, Torquemada, fanatical in his hair shirt and his zeal for rooting out heretics, mostly conversos - Jews who had converted to Christianity. And the pleasure loving, corrupt Spanish Church with its bejeweled cardinals, eager for the confiscated estates of wealthy heretics. It's typified by the womanizing Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia who became Pope Alexander VI by bribing the Conclave of choosers.

And there's Ferdinand and Isabella, a match chosen by themselves rather than for them. Isabella, determined to hold on to power at a time when women had none, drove a hard bargain, but Ferdinand, prince of Aragon, accepted. Did he think it would only be a matter of time before he could seize full control? Did he value her judgment? Reston does not try to answer these questions, but makes it clear their rule remained joint. Isabella, famed for her piety, charm and beauty, had an iron will and often involved herself in military matters. She and Ferdinand were both determined to drive the last of the Moors from Spanish territory and during the last summer campaign in 1492 Isabella raised morale by riding among the troops clothed in full armor. Joining piety with their need for money the monarchs (both of whom had converso blood) inaugurated the new Inquisition.

The Moors held but a remnant of their 800-year Spanish conquest by the time of Ferdinand and Isabella's reign. Successive crusades had vowed to rid the Iberian peninsula of the infidel and Ferdinand spent every summer pushing against the last Muslim stronghold of Granada. Reston shows how weak Muslim rulers and internecine squabbles contributed to Ferdinand's eventual success over Boabdil the Unfortunate.

Then there's Columbus. Tricked and cheated by Portugal, Columbus arrived in Spain in 1486, where he famously spent six years languishing, fuming and persuading. Less known, at least to me, is his possible involvement in the campaigns against the Moors. Reston, citing money paid to him by Ferdinand, suggests that Columbus may have been a source of information leading to negotiations for the surrender of Malaga. It was not the only time Columbus was summoned, but Reston's speculation, while tantalizing, is thin.

Would Columbus not have sailed if the Moors had not been defeated that year? Probably not, but he didn't have sure prospects anywhere else and Moorish defeat, if not 1492 then 1493, was certain. Perhaps some other country - England or France - would have been the New World conquistadors instead of the Spanish, but Reston does not make the case. Nor does he really try to.

Columbus is actually a minor player in a book that abounds with scheming power grabbers and fanatics. The central thread of the book is the Inquisition and its thrust against the conversos. Many of these were rich and powerful and the throne had need of money for their wars against the Moors. Reston shows how religion in the service of politics worked against the Jews in Spain, building momentum each year as more and more families lost their property, their homes, their liberty and, for many, their lives.

He describes the workings and cynical piety of the Inquisition's rules, the grisly tortures of interrogation and the public auto-da-fe where accused heretics were judged; some burned, some imprisoned, all relieved of their property. Juxtaposed to this are the mansions and mistresses of the Church's top prelates (those not wearing hair shirts) and the exquisite architecture and learning of the Moors, who were, nevertheless, fighting and murdering one another.

This is an overview and Reston leaves many questions (particularly concerning the Inquisition) unanswered, but curious readers will find further sources in his bibliography. The writing is lively and colorful and full of anecdotes and quotes from contemporary sources. Thought provoking and readable, this history shows how dangerous and destructive fanaticism is, whatever its era. An enjoyable history for a general audience.

-- Portsmouth Herald

James Reston Jr.'s THE DOGS OF GOD is extemely timely. Its relevance to the American public does not lie in its inclusion of Columbus, but in its analysis of the world's first totalitarian state. By totalitarian state, I mean one in which the rulers attempt to monitor and control the private lives of all their subjects. What is so important about the evolution of such totalitarianism in fifteenth century Spain is that the first steps in its direction were judicial-- a rejection of what we would call Sixth Amendment rights. Civil libertarians have long expected the first blow to democracy to come in the form of the rejection of First Amendment Rights. But under the Spanish Inquisition, people were being burnt long before books were. That is because they were denied the rudiments of due process as they were recognized even then. For instance, Pope Sixtus IV tried to moderate the Spanish Inquisition by the following rules, which were rejected by Ferdinand and Isabella: "Heresy must be tried like any other crime, and the accused must have the right to a fair trial... The names of the accusers and witnesses must be revealed to the accused. He or she must be given counsel, and have the right to appeal..." (p. 101). Of course the notion of trying anyone for heresy is anathema to us today. But to ignore the manner in which judicial abuses were used in this instance to erect a totalitarian government is to ignore the fact that improper judicial procedures-- such as the elimination of the right to appeal for a writ of habeas corpus-- may by themselves be used to lay the foundations for a totalitarian state, even if the transgression that they are aimed at is one which we would today recognize as a crime-- for instance terrorist activities.

Reston establishes clearly that the responsibility for the Spanish Inquisition rested with the secular powers, and their favorite churchmen--above all Tomas Torquemada. The defeat of the last bastion of Moorish Spain, Granada, is recounted in heartbreaking detail. Its leaders were quite obviously unequal to the task of defending their state, and far too inclined to trust the reassurances of Christian monarchs. As one of their more astute generals, Musa Ben Abdil, said when he saw them lamenting, "Leave this useless weeping, men of Granada, to the eyes of children and delicate maidens. Let us be men and expend our emotions, not in the shedding of unmanly tears, but in pouring forth our blood even unto the last drop... Why should you refuse the honorable death of the battlefield? Death is the least of the evils that threaten you. More fearful are the humiliations that are being prepared: plunder of our houses, desecration of our mosques, violation of our wives and daughters, cruel intolerance, and the burning pile of the bigot." (p. 140) He was right. Although Ferdinand and Isabella had promised security of person and property as well as religious freedom to the Granadans as a condition of surrender on January 2, 1492, only four days later they went back on their promises. Muslims began to be persecuted. To make things worse, on March 30 of that year, the Most Catholic Monarchs issued a decree expelling all Jews from Spain. Ethnic Jews were already being persecuted by the Inquisition, even those whose families had converted to Christianity and who were known as conversos. As in a later totalitarian state, what mattered most was not the person's actions or beliefs but limpieza-- purity of blood.

What struck me, as an historian of the Third Reich, is how similar the situation for the Jews and Moors of fifteenth century Spain was to that of Jews and other persecuted groups in nineteen-thirties Germany. For they had established a comfortable niche for themselves in the body politic. The conversos in particular often served Christian monarchs as tax collectors, became wealthy, and intermarried with the best families. Ferdinand, Isabella, and Torquemada all had Jewish blood running in their veins. Who could suppose that thousands of them, along with the Muslims, would end up being tortured and murdered by the Inquisition? But they were, as they would be later in Germany. One is left to wonder what comfortable, well-integrated and unsuspecting segments of American society may someday find themselves in a similar situation.